


The Best Laid Plans

by Miyuki_scourgeofthefirenation



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Camping, Firelord Zuko (Avatar), Humor, Lost in the Woods, M/M, Mostly Canon Compliant, POV Sokka (Avatar), fic request, rated for language
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-16
Updated: 2020-08-16
Packaged: 2021-03-06 05:29:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,355
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25938178
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Miyuki_scourgeofthefirenation/pseuds/Miyuki_scourgeofthefirenation
Summary: They had a plan alright? The plan was to get Sokka and Zuko to realize their feelings for each other. Okay, so the execution was poor, and the success has yet to be seen, but surely it was a success. They just had to find Sokka and Zuko now to see. If only they hadn’t disappeared.For their part, Sokka and Zuko did not appreciate being stranded in the woods by their supposed friends. Why would they strand them in the first place? After some eavesdropping they form a plan of their own.
Relationships: Aang & Toph Beifong & Katara & Sokka & Suki & Zuko, Sokka/Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 32
Kudos: 419





	The Best Laid Plans

**Author's Note:**

  * For [DaisytheDoodleDog](https://archiveofourown.org/users/DaisytheDoodleDog/gifts).



> So the lovely DaisytheDoodleDog requested a fic about Zuko and Sokka getting lost in the woods, and I thought that was fun so here it is now! I hope you like it! And it’s actually in the canon universe (for the most part)!
> 
> Also, I did not proofread this so hopefully it all makes sense!

They were somewhere in the Earth Kingdom. Somewhere in the woods in the Earth Kingdom. They were also lost. Sokka sighed, thinking back on everything that had gotten them to this point.

It had been Toph’s idea, which in hindsight really should have been enough to indicate that things were about to go to shit. About a month ago she had floated the idea of the six of them taking a camping trip soon, for old times sake. It had been almost eight years since the end of the war, and none of them got to see each other as much as they would like. Sokka travelled around between the Southern Water Tribe, Fire Nation, and the new burgeoning republic, Aang and Katara also travelled frequently all over the world, Toph had her academy in the Earth Kingdom, Suki had gone back to Kyoshi island a few years back to oversee training and running of the Kyoshi warriors after five years of serving as guard for the Firelord, and of course Zuko spent most of his time in the Fire Nation with his Firelord duties.

Speaking of Zuko, he was now intently consulting the map of the area Sokka had brought with him. Sokka was infinitely grateful for his own planning skills, especially now. He and Zuko had gotten separated from the others a couple hours ago, and they were trying to find their way back to the site they had been using for camp.

Tui and La, Sokka didn’t even want to think about how frantic and upset the guards and council back in the Fire Nation were going to be when they found out about this. It had been enough of a struggle to convince them to let Zuko go without sending a whole army along with him. They only relented when Zuko pointed out that he would be in the company of a master water bender, master earthbender, a strategic war hero, the former captain of his personal guard, and the fucking avatar. He would be just fine. So if they ever found out about this they would never let Zuko out of their sight again. And Sokka had a sinking feeling they would find out about this.

Now it was just Zuko and Sokka. And they had no idea where in the woods they were. Suki had had the desire to go for a nice hike through the woods south of their campsite. Katara had expressed wanting to come along with, and then Suki had invited Zuko and Sokka to come as well. Both Aang and Toph stayed back at the campsite.

The smaller group headed out, weaving their way around, led by Suki. Eventually Sokka found himself so turned around he was relieved that Suki always had a seemingly built in honing system for knowing where they were. They had climbed up a small hill, and found a nice cave that gave a beautiful view of the surrounding area. Katara had then realized they needed more water, and Suki had offered to take her to a small stream she had seen nearby. Sokka and Zuko had wanted to rest, so they stayed in the cave, with the women promising to come back soon.

That had been two hours ago. They still hadn’t returned, and both Sokka and Zuko had gotten worried. Sokka was hesitant to leave the cave, because when you got separated from others in a group it was probably better to stay where you were if possible in order to be found faster. But then Zuko pointed out that Suki and Katara had promised to come back soon, and they were unlikely to have broken that promise unless something had happened. Which of course sent Sokka into big brother mode, and he needed to find Katara to make sure she was safe. So the two men had elected to try and find the stream. And hopefully find Katara and Suki by extension.

Zuko began talking, which startled Sokka out of his thoughts. “Well, if I’m reading this map correctly, I think I am, the stream should be a little bit that way.” He pointed off in a seemingly random direction.

“Hmmm,” Sokka came up to stand next to him. “May I?” He indicated the map, which Zuko handed over. “Yeah, I think you’re right.”

Zuko smirked, “I know this could very well be a life or death situation, but I still gotta say it’s good to hear you admit that I’m right.”

Sokka huffed and gave a small shake of his head. “It’s like you act like I’ve never said that before.”

“Did I somehow miss it happening before?” Zuko acted flabbergasted. “Are you making a habit of telling me I’m right when I can’t hear you? When I’m asleep?! Because I certainly would have remembered.”

“Shut it, Firelord,” Sokka said, rolling his eyes. “Let’s focus on finding my sister, you can go back to being a holier than thou pompous ass after that.”

Zuko said something that Sokka didn’t quite catch as he began striding through the underbrush of the forest in the direction of the stream. He thought it might have something to do with his ass. Or maybe Zuko’s ass. In any case he didn’t stick around long enough to hear it, and the grin on Zuko’s face when he caught up to Sokka made him decide he didn’t want to know. The two men walked in companionable silence for the rest of the way to the stream. Zuko seemed gratified to find the stream where he had figured it would be, and Sokka was relieved to have some sort of lead on the location of his sister.

Katara and Suki had definitely been there. Sokka quickly noted the footprint tracks on the ground matching their feet. And there was a small bank where he thought Katara would likely have knelt down to get the water. However, both women were decidedly not there anymore.

Sokka frowned, scanning the bank and surrounding woods on both sides. His mind was instantly going to the worst case scenarios.

“It doesn’t look like there was any sort of attack,” Zuko said softly, coming to stand next to him. “There would be evidence of a fight, especially if that fight involved Katara.” He gestured to the water still calmly bubbling along in the stream behind them. Sokka knew he was correct, again, though he refrained from saying so out loud. He didn’t need a resurgence of Zuko’s attitude from earlier. But Katara absolutely would leave evidence if there had been a fight nearby. The bank they stood on would be a muddy mess if she had needed to waterbend in defense.

“They probably tried to get back to the cave but got lost along the way,” Sokka said. “Though how that would happen with Suki I’m not sure...”

“Wow, you admitted I’m right AND that you don’t know everything all in one day? It’s unprecedented!” Zuko laughed. Sokka glared.

“I will leave you out here in these woods your Flaminess, fuck what your guards and council will think. Don’t try me.”

Zuko tried and failed to suppress his smile. He held his hands up in mock surrender. “What should we do then?”

Sokka sighed, “I’d say we should probably see about finding our way back to the campsite. Hopefully Suki remembered enough to get them back there safely. Plus if we get there and they’re not back we can enlist Toph’s superior detection skills in searching for them.”

Zuko nodded, “That’s smart.”

“Now who’s admitting to the other being right?” Sokka teased.

“Of all the people I could have been stuck out here with it had to be you huh?” Zuko remarked.

“Let’s face it, would you really want it any other way?” Sokka leaned in towards Zuko and raised his eyebrows suggestively.

“You’re so annoying.”

“And you love it.”

“Maybe so,” Zuko caved and gave Sokka a quick kiss on the lips before pulling back to look at their surroundings again. “There is one problem though.”

“What’s that?”

“How are we gonna find our way back to the campsite? Suki was the one who knew where we were out here.”

“Huh,” Sokka furrowed his brow. He gave a quick scan of the area, before walking briskly back over to the side of the stream and crouching down. “There are tracks here, their footprints,” Zuko came to kneel next to him. “They’re faint but there,” Sokka continued, “hopefully I can follow them for long enough that we can get at least within range of Toph.”

Zuko nodded and straightened back up, but when Sokka looked at him he had a strange expression on his face.

“What is it?” Sokka asked.

“Oh! It’s probably nothing, but-“ Zuko sighed and Sokka waved a hand to indicate that he should keep talking. “The tracks. They lead in almost the exact opposite direction of the way of the cave. And Suki does have a really good sense of direction...”

Sokka groaned and stood up. He observed the tracks on the ground. Sure enough they were leading in the opposite direction he and Zuko had arrived from. And now that he was inspecting the ground further he noticed tracks near his and Zuko’s that certainly belonged to Suki and Katara as well. He grimaced. There was no way they didn’t know what direction they had come from.

“Which means they deliberately went the other way. Why?” Sokka mused. He didn’t know what was going on, but he knew he didn’t like it.

“That is the question,” Zuko said, crossing his arms over his chest.

“Well, let’s go back to the campsite and see if we can’t figure out what’s going on.” Sokka paused. “And let’s see about finding a way to observe what’s happening there before they know we’re back. So maybe we can discover what exactly they mean by this.”

“Okay,” Zuko agreed. “Just one thing,” he hesitated, “how are we going to avoid Toph knowing we’re there?”

Sokka smirked, “Oh, I have an idea.”

* * *

That’s how Zuko and Sokka found themselves up a tree on the outskirts of the campsite. It hadn’t been easy getting there undetected, but Sokka had managed to find a route between tree branches that were sturdy enough. There had been a couple of times where Zuko almost fell out of the trees, but Sokka had caught and helped him every time. With only minimal silent taunting too. Zuko still had not been amused.

Thankfully Sokka had been able to track Suki and Katara’s footprints the whole way back, so they hadn’t gotten lost for real in the woods. Again. Though he wondered what would have happened if he and Zuko hadn’t been able to find the stream. Unbidden images of the two of them cuddled up in the cave, all alone, sprung into his mind. He shook his head. That hadn’t happened, and right now it was more important to find out why his sister had stranded him in the woods. He could try to find a way to make his Zuko fantasies come true later.

Just then Katara, Aang, and Toph wandered into view. Toph and Katara sat down on a rock, while Aang paced in front of them. Suki was nowhere in sight.

“They’re still not back,” Katara said worriedly. “Maybe we should go try to find them?”

“Eh, they’ll be fine,” Toph waved a hand lazily, “just give them some more time.”

“I don’t know Toph,” Aang shuffled his feet, eyes scanning the surrounding woods, “what if something happened? Zuko _is_ the Firelord… and losing the Firelord would be really, really bad.”

“Nuh-uh Twinkletoes,” Toph shot back, sitting up a bit, “you are not about to ruin my and Suki’s plan here!”

Plan? What plan? Sokka looked over at where Zuko sat perched in the tree next to him. He seemed just as confused, and shrugged over at Sokka when he caught his eye. Why did their friends have a plan to strand them in the middle of the woods? Just then Suki came running back to the group on the ground.

“They’re not in the cave,” she panted, alarm written on her face. “I thought for sure they would stay there or else have gotten back here by now. And I didn’t see or hear them on the way there or back.”

“Oh no, oh no no no no NO!” Katara yelped, standing up from where she sat. “We did not just lose my brother in the middle of a forest because of some stupid plan of yours!” Her head whipped back and forth between glaring at Toph and Suki.

“And Zuko,” Aang added on.

“Right! And Zuko! The Firelord who we need because otherwise control of the Fire Nation falls to Azula! And if we don’t find Sokka alive and well none of you are gonna like what I do!” Katara fumed.

Suki wrung her hands together, looking sick. “I’m so, so sorry Katara! I thought-” she sighed, “I guess I didn’t really think, because now it seems obvious that leaving them alone in the middle of unfamiliar woods was not a great way to get them to realize their feelings for each other.”

“No, you don’t say?” Katara snapped.

Sokka’s eyes went immediately to Zuko’s, who looked back at him shocked. Their friends had done this to… get them to admit that they had feelings for each other? Liked each other? Sokka smirked and Zuko rolled his eyes, already knowing what he was thinking. Sokka was going to lord this over Suki and the rest of them for a long time. He could see it now, taunting them.

_“Hey Suki, you remember the time you almost lost and potentially almost got the Firelord killed all because you wanted me to tell him I liked him? Remember the time you almost started an international incident in order to get me to admit to Zuko that I had feelings for him Aang? Hey Toph, remember the time the war could have been restarted because you somehow didn’t realize that me and Zuko were already dating?”_

Oh, Sokka was going to have so much fun with this, and he knew the smile must show on his face because Zuko leaned over and lightly swatted his arm. Sokka just waggled his eyebrows at his boyfriend, leading to a sigh and fond shake of the head from Zuko.

“I’m sure they’re fine,” Toph said, though Sokka noted a new hesitation in her voice. “Sokka’s smart, he can handle the woods. As long as Zuko sticks with him they’ll both be alright.” Sokka turned to look at Zuko and saw a vaguely affronted expression on his face. He snorted, which earned him a glare from his boyfriend. Zuko then opened his mouth as if to say something, but Sokka quickly put a finger up to his lips and pointed down to the rest of the group on the ground. Toph would hear them if they started talking, and Sokka wasn’t done with this eavesdropping yet.

“But what if they aren’t!” Katara spluttered. “What if they ran into somebody, who realized Zuko was the Firelord and they’re being held hostage as we speak?”

Now Aang looked even more nervous than before. He seemed to fully grasp that as the Avatar it was his job to ensure harmony in the nations. Something that would be decidedly more difficult should any harm befall Zuko. “We need to go try and find them,” he said forcefully, in a tone that let Toph know no arguments would be entertained.

Toph sighed, seemingly realizing defeat. “Alright. How should we do this?” She stood up.

“I’d say we would cover more ground if we split into two groups, but I don’t want to lose anyone else in these woods,” Aang said. The others nodded at that.

“Toph, are you getting any sort of vibrations from a certain direction?” Suki asked.

“Hmmm,” Toph paused, wiggling her toes against the ground. “There’s a slight tremor of something coming from the east… Let’s try that direction first.”

Sokka and Zuko watched from their tree as the others moved off in that direction. Once they were out of hearing range, but Sokka knew they were still within Toph’s sonic range he turned to Zuko. “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”

“Depends on what you’re thinking.”

“I’m thinking we jump down, make ourselves comfy at the campsite, and when they get back we act like we’ve been there the whole time.”

“So you’re saying we mess with them? With the emotions of our friends?”

“They abandoned us in the woods!”

Zuko grinned, “I didn’t say I was opposed to the plan.”

Sokka paused as a smile stole over his own face, “And that’s why I love you. Your willingness to go along with my plans.”

“You make some pretty good ones.”

“I think so too!” Sokka exclaimed.

Zuko sighed, “I really gotta learn to stop feeding your ego.” With that the two ambled down from the tree. Sokka was sure they were still within Toph’s range, and so she would realize where they were very soon. Which meant they had to move quickly.

Sokka rushed to get some cooking supplies and Zuko started the fire with a wave from his hand. The two moved in sync without having to pause to consult each other further over how this was going to play out. 

The possum chicken was almost done when Aang, Katara, Suki, and Toph came bursting back into the clearing, all panting heavily. Zuko and Sokka abruptly stopped laughing at the story Sokka had been pretending to tell. They shot questioning looks over at the others.

“What’s wrong?” Zuko asked with a frown on his face. Sokka suppressed a smirk at his boyfriend’s acting.

“What do you mean what’s wrong?” Suki burst out, her face whipping back and forth between the two.

“You guys are really out of breath and seem panicked,” Sokka commented, Zuko nodding alongside him with an expression of concern.

“Of course we seem panicked, we were panicked!” Katara shrieked. 

Sokka tilted his head to the side, “But why were you panicked. I think that’s what Zuko was wondering. No need to shout.” Katara looked like she might explode.

Aang cut in before she could completely lose it. “We were out searching for you.”

“What are you talking about? Why would you need to search for us, we’ve been right here.” Zuko adopted a confused expression that seemed over exaggerated to Sokka, which of course only made him want to laugh harder.

“You have not been right here,” Suki asserted.

“Yes we have,” Sokka insisted.

“No you haven’t!”

“Have too!”

“Nuh-uh!”

“Yuh-huh!”

“Okay, that’s enough,” Toph said suddenly. “I don’t know how you did it, sonically it felt like you just appeared out of nowhere, but you’re both safe and that’s all that matters. Because now Sugar Queen can get off my back finally.” Sokka nodded sagely as Katara huffed indignantly.

“Dinner will be ready soon,” Zuko said, casting a glance at Sokka. The two had a silent conversation, and came to an agreement about what he should say next. “So how about you all go rest in your tents for a bit,” Zuko continued, “and when the food is ready we can have a nice long conversation about why it's a bad idea to abandon your friends in the woods. And what will happen if you decide to try abandoning your friends in the woods again.”

The others looked guilty at this, Suki opened her mouth to speak but was quieted by a touch on the shoulder from Aang and a furious shake of his head. He seemed to realize that pushing Zuko and Sokka any further wouldn’t end well. 

“Run along now,” Sokka shooed them away with his hand. The others shuffled off.

As they went Sokka heard Toph muttering “All that planning and headache and it didn’t even work to get them together!”

Zuko smirked and leaned closer to Sokka. He gave him a quick kiss before whispering, “Nope, didn’t work at all.”

**Author's Note:**

> Look, the others did not think the plan through very well. Please do not do any of this if you go into the woods or get separated from others in the woods! Be safe please!
> 
> Please validate me through comments and kudos. It makes Miyuki happy. And you don’t want to see Miyuki when she isn’t happy. There’s sad staring into space, and that just gets awkward for everybody involved.  
> ~  
> Follow me on Tumblr if you wanna! @miyuki-scourgeofthefirenation  
> I take fic requests, though I make no promises about timeliness in fulfilling them. Hit me up on Tumblr and we can talk about it. No NSFW. Don’t ask, it’s not gonna happen.  
> I upload for ATLA on Sundays!


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